I liked Nirvana. I was in college but I didn't give a flying f*ck about him and his shotgun sandwich. But I remember thinking to myself "Oh God. Here it comes. The guy who was just pretty good will now be considered an alltime legend and I'll have to hear about this crap every year for the rest of my life."So far I've been right.

Some Bass Playing Guy:GAT_00: As opposed to Lennon, who by his own words regularly beat the women he was with.Comparing Cobain to Lennon is an insult to Cobain.

Both of you should try not being dicks.

The comparison of Lennon and Cobain isn't a bad one. Both of them were iconic figures that many fans held in higher esteem than most other popular artists. As far as talent is concerned, that's totally subjective. It's also entirely likely that people who have more respect forsomeone from their own generation or closer to their own generation.

Some of us, however, can see past the bullshiat to realize that both Lennon and Cobain are deserving of respect. Lennon and the Beatles were influential and changed the course of popular music. Cobain and Nirvana did the same. They can be equally criticized for the problems they had in their personal lives. In then end, they had faults, just like everyone else.

But yeah, let's turn this thread into a dick waving contest. That's always the best choice.

As with Elvis, Lennon's death had a bigger immediate impact because his fan base were in their 30s and 40s; they were the establishment. Cobain's fans were still pretty much kids/college students in '94.

yeah, we got cut loose from my military school that day, half day, went to the on-base exchange, and thought about buying "In Utero", didn't. walked back to the barracks, turn on the TV and they were showing the "Unplugged" concert, figured, "whatver". then they broke to Loder and that's when I found out.

I wasn't a huuuuuge fan but I liked them. I was certainly bummed out but not terribly affected. I never bought "Nevermind" but I liked the stuff on "In Utero".

/also, this annual thread marks one of the weirdest moments on Fark i've ever had. I have a very, very high quality bootleg of something like, the 3rd to last Nirvana show, 2/22/94 (it circulates in various labels, mine is "Tour Over Europe". Commercial quality live show. anywyas, i said in the kurt thread, "email me if you want a copy, send a blank CD and a buck for return postage".

few weeks later, someone posts a thread: "hey. some fark guy sent me this amazing live Nirvana CD. his name is [MY ACTUAL GODAMN NAME]. i can't remember his login name. anybody know him? i want to say thanks."

The lyrics to ICP's "Terrible" come to mind.The whole world was crying when Kurt's gun went BANG!When Eazy-E died though, it wasn't no thangRapper dies of A.I.D.S. but you hardly mentionRocker blows his face off and becomes a legendHeroin and a shotgun, a hero is madeMaybe I should do that shiat so J can get paid

FirstNationalBastard:And, like Lennon, dying young made him into more of a legend than if he had lived.

Add to that list Joplin, Hendrix, Moon, Bonham, Morrision, etc...

Music, especially popular music is obsessed with stories, legends and myths. Dying before they could shatter any of the myths was the best thing they could have ever done. So they get elevated into some kind of mythical status instead of grow old and out of rock. Nirvana fans should thank their lucky stars Kurt isn't around today releasing folk albums on the banjo.

The more I think about it, Butch Vig deserves A LOT of credit for Nirvana's success. It's not so much I think the production values of Nevermind were so stellar on its own, so much as they were perfect to launch a particular scene into the mainstream via commercial radio. A song like "Smells like Teen Spirit" sounds so much fuller and more dense on the recorded track than a three-piece glorified garage band (at the time) should ever sound like.

/what I'm basically saying is that Vig very artfully and tastefully sold them out.

Yeah, I don't see how they would have lasted much longer. Remember Cobain was in a coma for quite awhile (drug use, I assume).

I have no idea on any tensions in the band... but its clear that Grohl knew he had enough talent to run a great band on his own, and not just be the drummer of Nirvana. Lets assume Cobain never died (suicide or drugs or whatever)... I have to believe it would be long before Grohl quit anyway because of how farked Cobain was to basically form the Foo Fighters.

I loved Nirvana at the time, but only a handful of songs have stood the test of time. And I don't see how they would have evolved into something better.

Killer Cars:The more I think about it, Butch Vig deserves A LOT of credit for Nirvana's success. It's not so much I think the production values of Nevermind were so stellar on its own, so much as they were perfect to launch a particular scene into the mainstream via commercial radio. A song like "Smells like Teen Spirit" sounds so much fuller and more dense on the recorded track than a three-piece glorified garage band (at the time) should ever sound like.

/what I'm basically saying is that Vig very artfully and tastefully sold them out.

Indeed. Compare Bleach to Nevermind. Also watch the Classic Albums DVD on Nevermind.

that's a very interesting subject, as Courtney insists that Kurt was really farking tired of Nirvana anyways, and if i recall, she says he and Grohl were on the outs. but then she's also crazy. Grohl addresses the breakup but in the interviews I've heard, he doesn't go into specifics of how the band was "doing" when kurt died, and Krist hasn't said much that I know of.

so i wonder where Nirvana "was" in March/April 1994. Kurt had the suicide attempt in early March, which I think ended the european tour (or came at the end) but.....isn't part of the story that no one was in contact with him the last 2-3 weeks of his life? meaning, whether it means something or not, neither Grohl nor krist was talking to their bandleader, who was desperately trying to get into rehab (before running away).

maybe I'm making false assumptions or have a bad memory, but what if there was some shiat going down? my point is Courtney says there was, Grohl won't really address it, and Krist isn't talking. makes you think.